I absolutely love the beaches here in Mazatlán. We go to ‘our’ beach several times a week. Sometimes for a few hours and other times just minutes to wait for José to come by with fresh sliced mango in cup with lime and tajin. The waves are too big and too far out to go beyond the breakers so playing in the surf has been our go-to since we got here.
This weekend we decided to go to a section of the beach that is on the Malécon. The waves are smaller because the beach is protected by three large islands opposite it. Chivos, Venados and Parajos (the goat, deer and bird). This was a very busy and well populated beach. Mariachi bands, vendors selling EVERYTHING and lots of families. Big family gatherings with multiple generations eating, drinking and celebrating life. It was wonderful.
If there was one thing that I wish was different, it would be that some people discarded their beer cans by just throwing them onto the sand and walking away. There was no attempt to put it in a trash can (only feet away). Subsequently the waves would eventually reach the cans and take them into the sea. The cans would bump past the family and even then, they would barely make an attempt to throw it back on shore for it to happen all over again.
I could not sit and watch this without total disgust and shame. I got up every single time a can was tossed and retrieved it to put in our garbage bag. I did this with zero shame and overflowing contempt. It was mind boggling to me. They arrived and settled in clean sand. They sat on the beach in clean sand. They enjoyed clear water and yet trashed it while they were there. It was heartbreaking.
I had a discussion with a new friend here a week or so ago and she had said that in her 20 years here she had never heard of the kids learning in school about the importance of recycling. I told her with confidence that in Colégio Rex they are. I was adamant that the younger generations were exposed. This weekend I was proven wrong. The kids in this large family just ignored the grownups discard of trash and life went on.
I picked up all their trash, and the trash belonging to the young twenty something girls that came to the beach with their boyfriends, next to us. I loved the small waves (or lack thereof), but I am not sure I will return to that beach. I could not relax, and I was focused on making sure trash was not swept up and taken out to sea all day. It’s 2025. I don’t care where you live in this world, the notion of discarding what you don’t want any more on the street or on the beach is just unacceptable. I am pretty sure that family would stop going to a beach filled with trash, even though they were the reason it was there.
